Darren McGavin and Zack Ward

Top Christmas Movie of All-Time

A CHRISTMAS STORY, 1983
Movie Reviews

Directed by Bob Clark

Starring Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin and Zack Ward
Review by Andrew Kosarko

SYNOPSIS:

This vignette-laden, nostalgic view of Christmastime in 1940s Indiana follows nine-year-old Ralphie, who desperately wants a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas–and is waging an all-out campaign to convince his reluctant parents that the toy will be safe in his hands. By turns warped and winsome, the comedy follows Ralphie as he prepares for the big day with his rather idiosyncratic family. Based on the novel by humorist Jean Shepherd, who also narrates the film.

REVIEW:

A Classic.” “The timeless story of Christmas” “Child hood Favorite” ….but to this reviewer? A tad bit overrated. Yes, that’s right I said it. I watched this film on December 5th, not the all day Christmas Eve marathon like many of you. And maybe the farther away I get from the holiday the more unbias I am to the flaws of the movie. Maybe as I grow into an adult or become more experienced as a film maker I lose touch with being part of the audience. Or maybe I’ve just seen this movie one too many times. Either way – the film is far from being technically perfect.

The Story: A “single” story from a collection of short stories that Jean Shepherd wrote for – get this; Playboy magazine. Who would have knew eh? Anyway, my problems from the structure come out of the fact that it’s pretty scatter brained. It’s episodic and tangential 99% of the time. Which may make it a horrible film, but it makes for great TV viewing – act breaks that really don’t matter and things happen that never really have anything to do with the overall story. It’s basically a short film’s plot littered with little “slices of life” to fill the cracks. And yes, there are some interesting characters that really ride the waves and keep us watching. For me, it’s really Ralphie and his father. Randy and the mother annoy the living Christmas out of me. All the other characters are pretty flat and one dimensioned. And the narrating is really the only thing pulling it all together.

Acting: You may not have noticed it, but I did. The narration not only holds the story together but it hides a lot of the bad acting as well. Whatever the actors can’t get across themselves is covered in VO. Not exactly strong film making to me, but I’ll live with it. It adds only to the “slice of life” of it all. Darren McGavin is the only actor to really fill his role in a way that I enjoy, and Zack Ward, aka Scott Farguson is the only actor to have moved on to a fulfilling career. Strange since he has the least amount of dialogue in the film.

Directing: Now, Bob Clark may have a story and some acting that I don’t connect with. However, he did hit the nail on the head in terms of the production value. I also give him credit for going from a film like Porky’s to a film like this. While I have problems with it, the film does have a lot of heart to it and I think that’s what rings true to everyone when they watch it.

Cinematography: This is one of the elements that really nails it’s column. The film was shot in the 80’s but set in the 40’s. It even has the grit and grain of the 40’s production value and look it all. This, combined with they 70’s overblown yellows adds a mood to the film that makes it instantly nostalgic. Even upon first viewing, you’re visually intrigued as to what your seeing.

Production Design: Same as above – this is another area that really draws you into the world. Christmas wasn’t as high tech as it is today. It was the kind of presents you really could believe that Santa could make and deliver on. Now he’d need a degree from MIT. The ancestry of the production design is the salt and pepper of the main feast of the cinematography. It really is part of what makes the movie work. And not only is it perfect, but it also did more for the novelty lamp industry than any movie in history.

Editing: Here’s a place I take issue with. The editing is part of the reason that the film is scatterbrained and episodic. Yes, I understand it all comes from the story and then most of all it’s about shooting for the edit in production, but something here is awry. Shots hold for entirely way to long and things happen in sequence that hold no connection to what we just saw a moment before. Every scene feels like a cut away that happens and ends up distracting us from the fact that most of the things we just saw remain unresolved. I guess it’s gets away with it because we just let it go since they didn’t mean much to us anyway.

Score: There’s Christmas music and also pieces from productions of Hamlet. I’d say that’s quite an ingenious combination myself. But the actual production of the Christmas music matches the time period of the film so once again, that nostalgia factor grabs at our heart strings.

Special Effects: Not applicable. At all. Unless sped up film counts. And if so, then it’s cheap.

In closing: There’s a reason most people watch this once a year on Christmas day. It’s because it pulls the nostalgia card a little too often and that’s the number one thing people are looking for on Christmas day. Mix in a bit of witty dialogue and one or two relatable characters in situations that have no plot meaning but are all too familiar and you have a classic. I’ll still watch the film on Christmas as I’m not special from that day and the love of this movie, but this isn’t a movie I can watch the day after thanksgiving and get all Christmasy because of it. I’ll save that for a few other films that were better achieved.

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